Forward: We are not sure if all of you are getting the blogs so would appreciate one contact from those who haven't made a comment yet. This can be done by simply hitting the "I liked this" tab at the end of the photos. Cheers S & A

Tuesday 1 June (First day of the hurricane season!!)

First port of call today after leaving Keystone, SD is the Crazy Horse Monument in the Black Hills. There are photos but to give some idea of the scale, the four heads of Mt Rushmore could fit into the head of Crazy Horse. The project was begun in 1948 by one man (he had 7 children and they have continued the project) and will probably not be completed in our life time! Even with modern equipment it is an enormous undertaking. The photos show an outline of what the final sculpture will look like. It was certainly impressive and is being done from donations; no government assistance has been or will be accepted

We head towards Wall on I-90. This place is famous for the Wall Drug store which has grown into two blocks of history and souvenirs after starting out as a drug store. See profile photo and the one with Stephen riding the bucking horse as examples of what we mean. There is a sign in Amsterdam that says” 5030 miles to Wall Drug”!

Next was the Badlands Nat Park which was yet another highlight. Please look at the photos to see what unusual landscapes are found here. International renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright made the following comment

“I’ve been about the world a lot, and pretty much over our own country, but I was totally unprepared for that revelation called the Dakota Badlands.....What I saw gave me an indescribable sense of mystery elsewhere –a distant architecture, ethereal....., an endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it” We couldn’t put it better. Hope the pictures do justice.

The day of long drive, version 2! Today we travelled 535 miles (860 km). Kadoka to Albert Lea via Pierre, capital city of South Dakota with a population of 13,000! , we travel along the side of the, Missouri. In Mitchell we observe the famous corn building which is covered in corn cobs. The pictures created with the cobs are changed each year at the cost of $300,000.

We leave South Dakota and enter Minnesota, the home state of Bob Dylan. Thoughts of visiting Hibbing and Duluth are shelved when the distances we need to go north are calculated. Maybe next time and yes there will be a next time, no doubt!

On the road again with the intent of getting as close to Madison, Wisconsin so that we can make a relatively short run to Chicago on Friday.

We take State 16 on advice from the people at Information. Whilst not a spectacular landscape we note how the people in the small towns are very house proud with many fronted by what appears to be acres of well manicured lawns

. A striking difference to what we found out West. It also gave us the opportunity to go into Harmony, Minnesota where we were able to observe (and photograph) an Amish family who were in town. They undertake Amish tours so we didn’t feel intrusive taking the photos. Others may have a different view.

We cross over the mighty Mississippi at La Crosse to enter Wisconsin. We travel south along the side of the Mississippi down to Praire du Chien (prairie dog). We head east and get as far as Dodgeville which on the surfaced appeared to be very undodgey!

Comments

Still enjoying your blogs,with all the foto,s that you,ve taken, can they be put on dvd and so on t.v.??? I wouldnt mind a slide?? night. Keep safe enjoy, Love Mam.T.

Mike graham
on Jun 7, 2010 at 04:53PM

Hey Guys back from the Gulf Coast and the tar balls are coming in .Just devastating what is happening to our pristine beaches. Looks like you guys are having a ball. Really enjoying seeing the fotos .Keep um coming. Cherrs yall, Graham

Wanda
on Jun 7, 2010 at 09:01PM

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed your time in South Dakota. It sounds like you really took in a lot of the variety our state has to offer. We hope you'll be back to see us again sometime!

Best,WandaSD Office of Tourismwww.TravelSD.com

Trish-Stewart-uden
on Jun 8, 2010 at 05:43AM

I am really enjoying your travels.Your dialogue and photographs are wonderful.We are over our dredded "lurgie" and making a speedy recovery.Good win to both the Pies and the Hawks on the weekend.Love to you both,Trish.